Megan's prayer: dc Talk's "What Have We Become"

A preacher shuns his brother
Cause his bride's a different color
And this is not acceptable
His papa taught him so
It was love that he'd been preaching
But this was overreaching
The boundaries stretching further
Than his heart would chose to go.

The first few lines of this song bothered me, and made me a bit sad. A preacher, someone who typically is a leader, is putting a limit on his love and acceptance. And in doing so, his is causing others to limit their love and acceptance as well. It can be very frustrating when the leaders of a faith lead people to the wrong thing. This preacher lead people and his family to the idea that it is okay to value (or devalue) a person based on their skin color. It was okay to not extend your love to those who are different from you.

While I'm not a racist and think this message might not apply to me, I'm probably wrong. Although I don't judge others on their skin color, I'm surely guilty of misjudging them based on something else. Am I holding out love on people for no reason? Am I shunning others based on some small and insignificant characteristic?

Or am I extending my love to all? Am I showing God's love to everyone - regardless of their skin color, age, religion, etc?